Wa Kong Lor, a Hmong refugee from the outskirts of Detroit, was deported to Laos last month with only a driver’s license and $65 in cash.
Lor had never set foot in Laos, where his parents fled after the end of the Vietnam war. Born in a Thai refugee camp, he’s considered stateless in the country, and unable to open a bank account to receive money from the US. For the past month, he’s been living off the $65, spending a couple of dollars a day on food, said his wife, Maiyia Xiong. He asked her not to tell his mother and four young children back in Michigan that he’s begun sleeping on the streets.
